Girona

Girona is one of those big cities to have many interesting places but also small so that you can get to know them in one visit. With a past dating back to Roman age and a story that includes its integration into the Carolingian empire or the famous site during the War of independence, Girona is full of attractions.

You will easily identify its historic center or Old neighborhood because it is delimited by the old medieval walls. Next to Call or Jewish citadel, it will transport you to medieval Girona. If to these you add the houses hanging over the Oñar river, a rich heritage in architecture modernist and noucentista and, of course, the imposing Gothic cathedral, you will discover that Girona is a wonderful city. If you want to know it, we invite you to follow us.

What to see and do in Girona

Walking through the streets of the Catalan city you can visit its two thousand years of history and feel transported to Roman times, to the Carolingia or to the moment of the most exuberant baroque. Let's get to know it.

The wall

It is a fortification that includes parts of stonework from the Roman period along with other Carolingian (XNUMXth century) and lower Middle Ages (XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries). You can walk through it through the parapet walk and inside you will find some of the best treasures in Girona.

The cathedral of Santa Maria

It is a magnificent temple whose construction lasted six centuries, from the XNUMXth to the XNUMXth. For this reason, it includes styles such as Romanesque; the Gothic, which is the predominant one, and the Baroque. To the first belongs his cloister, to the second its great single nave, the widest in the world (23 meters) after that of the St. Peter's basilica in the Vatican, and the third the beautiful main facade, preceded by a no less impressive staircase.

Inside stand out its precious stained glass windows and the Capilla Mayor, which is located in the presbytery and has an extraordinary XNUMXth-century altarpiece covered with silverwork. Finally, you can visit the Cathedral Treasury Museum, with pieces as valuable as the Tapestry of Creation, XNUMXth century, and the altarpiece of Saint Helena, a renaissance gem.

El Call, the Jewish quarter of Girona

Also located within the perimeter of the Força Vella, the name given to the primitive walls of Girona, is the city's Jewish quarter, which is One of the best preserved in the world. It is made up of a labyrinth of narrow cobbled streets that are connected by arcades. Inside you can visit the Bonastruc Ca Porta Center, which is believed to have been the old synagogue and today houses a museum about the history of that town.

The arab baths

Without leaving the old town, you can visit the Arab baths, which are located in the Archaeological Walk, next to the Julia and Cornelia Towers. Despite their name, they are a XNUMXth century Christian construction in a Romanesque style, although they imitated Muslim baths. Her Lantern top finished in a dome.

Other temples in Girona

We also advise you to see in the Catalan city the basilica of Sant Feliú, which was the first cathedral. It looks like a castle and also combines a Romanesque headboard with Gothic naves and a Baroque façade. But, above all, its slender stands out bell tower.

Likewise, you must visit the Benedictine monastery of San Pere de Galligants and the chapel of Sant Nicolau, which form one of the most important Romanesque ensembles in all of Spain. In addition, the first houses today the Museum of Archeology of Catalonia, with pieces ranging from ancient Empúries to the Middle Ages.

Sant Marti Sacosta

If an almost intact medieval corner is preserved in Girona, this is it. It is framed by the church of Sant Martí with its facade and baroque stairs, and complemented by the Agullana House-Palace, which covers the access with a peculiar oblique arch.

The complex of Sant Domènec and Les Aligues

The old convent of Sant Domènec it was built between the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries. It holds the recognition of having been one of the first Gothic constructions in Catalonia and its beautiful cloister. For its part, the building of Les Àligues, the old university, only the facade is preserved, which is Renaissance.

Girona squares

The Catalan city has two historic squares that stand out among its urban spaces. One is the Vi, with continuous arcades and delimited by the General's Palace, a Gothic-Renaissance construction, the Municipal theater and Town Hall.

And the other, the Independence Square, XNUMXth century. It is configured by a porticoed space of neoclassical roots and in its center there is a monument in honor of the defenders of the city in the War of independence against the French. If you also want to eat, there are many restaurants there.

The Rambla de la Libertad

Along with the previous square, it has been a meeting point for the people of Girona since medieval times. It has a porticoed part precisely from the Middle Ages and with a walk of linden trees with benches that is later, specifically from the XNUMXth century.

The houses of the Oñar, another symbol of Girona

Truly typical of the Catalan city are these constructions that seem hanging over the river of the same name and that are painted in vivid colors. Among them the Masó House, which belonged to the architect Rafael Maso and that it is one of the emblems of the Noucentisme in the locality. Currently, it houses the foundation dedicated to its owner and a museum. But this leads us to talk to you about that architectural movement in Girona.

Noucentista and modernista architecture

Because it is by no means the only construction that responds to Noucentisme and Modernism in the city. Strolling through its streets you will come across residential buildings such as the Gispert Saüch houses, frankness, Forest, Noguera, where o Rigau.

And, in addition, with samples of industrial architecture such as that of Regas Distilleries and the Teixidor flour mill, due to Rafael Masó himself and that is really precious. Equally interesting is the post office building, by Eusebi Bona and Enric Catá, with its beautiful dome covered in Valencian tile.

The bridges over the Oñar river

There are several bridges to save the river that crosses Girona, although two stand out for their artistic value. The first is the Stone bridge or Isabel II, built in 1856 with Girona stone in which even today you can see fossil remains of nummulites, protozoa from more than forty million years ago.

And the other is the Iron Bridge or Eiffel, for having been built by the Parisian engineer company in 1877. As you may have guessed, the material of this building was iron. Somewhat less of architectural value have the Gomez Bridge, of reinforced concrete, a single arch and built in 1916, and the Sant Feliú Bridge, which connects the historic center with the expansion of the city and was built in 1995.

The museums

The capital of Girona has several museums. We have already told you about some like the archaeological, the one from Casa Masó, the History of the Jews y the Treasury of Girona. We also recommend that you visit the History of the City, installed in the former Capuchin convent, a beautiful XNUMXth century building, and the one of Art, with works that range from the Romanesque to the present.

But the most curious of them all is the one from the cinema, unique in its kind and showing pieces from the collection donated by the director Tomas Mallol i Deulofeu. These are projection cameras, reels, posters and other instruments.

Girona surroundings and outskirts

The Catalan city has a privileged environment. On the one hand, it is located at the confluence of four rivers and specifically in the TUE you can do kayaking and canyoning.

On the other, it has several natural routes so that you can visit them by bicycle or on foot. Among them, we will mention that of Green Anella, with barely nine hundred meters and that goes from the plain of Campdorà to the river Oñar. Also the one that passes through the Sant Daniel valley, which ends at the foot of massif of Les Gavarres; that of mount Sant Miquel, which runs along precisely that mountainous foothills, or that of galligants, which goes up to the Calvary fort.

In addition, we cannot fail to mention that in the province of Girona is the beautiful Costa Brava, one of the most important tourist destinations in the world. It has spectacular towns like Cadaqués, with its aspect of a fishing village; Lloret de Mar, with its magnificent beaches; Tossa de Mar, with its impressive castle, or San Feliu de Guixols, with its Romanesque monastery. And also with the wonderful landscapes of the Caminos de Ronda.

When is it better to go to Girona

The Catalan city presents a Mediterranean climate. Winters are cool but not too cold as average temperatures are around six degrees Celsius. Summers are hot, with averages around thirty degrees in July and August.

As for rainfall, they are relatively abundant, especially in the colder months and in autumn. For all these reasons, perhaps the best time to visit Girona is spring. However, if you prefer, you can go in autumn, a season that also coincides with the patron saint festivities. Are those of Saint Narcissus and, therefore, they are celebrated around the twenty-ninth of October.

How to get to the Catalan city

El Girona airport It is twelve kilometers from the town and receives flights from all over the world. In fact, it is the base of operations for southern Europe of the Ryanair company. You can also arrive by ferrocarril since one of the high-speed lines stops in Girona.

If you prefer to travel in your own car, the roads that take you to the Catalan town are the AP 7, which communicates the Spanish Levante with French, and the A-2, which passes through the municipality through the San Daniel valley.

Once in the city, you can move in urban bus, which has several lines. Or, if you feel fit, in Gyroclet, which is the City Council's bicycle rental service and which has twelve collection stations distributed throughout the neighborhoods of the town.

What to eat in Girona

Finally, we will tell you about Girona gastronomy. Because not only monuments and natural routes must include a trip. Food is also a way to get to know a city.

The province of Girona has an excellent culinary raw material. They highlight the fuet, black turnips and mushrooms, paltruc (a kind of blood sausage) or the sweet sausage.

As for the typical dishes, you must try the mint soups, Of flour y de thyme or thyme. Also they lamb roasts in ribs, snails to the patarrallada, duck with cabbages and hare with chestnuts. Regarding fish, we advise you the cod or stone trout. But don't stop trying the anxious, which is a delicious anchovy sauce.

And, for pastries, xuxos they are the quintessential sweets. These are cakes filled with cream and with sugar on top. They even have their own legend. El Tarlá was an acrobat who entertained the people of Girona and who fell in love with the daughter of a pastry chef in the city. While he was visiting her, he arrived and, in order not to be discovered, he hid in a sack of flour. This caused him a sneeze that rang "Xuxú". Then the pastry chef found him and the young man promised to marry his daughter and give him a recipe for a cake that, in memory of the sneeze, they called xuxo.

In conclusion, as you have seen, Girona has a lot to offer you. Highlights his huge monumental heritage, but also his beautiful landscape setting and excellent gastronomy. As if that were not enough, in just a few kilometers you will find the exuberant Costa Brava. Are not you enough reasons to visit Girona?